Toddler will be almost 3... too old for Nursery...

We are going on the April 6th Fantasy. Our youngest boy will be 2, but turns 3 April 28. Anyone familiar with the policies regarding this? He enjoyed the Nursery a year ago... but I know he would be bored by this April.
I think I remember the CM say it would be okay to register him for the Oceaneer's club... but not clear.

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You won't be able to preregister him for the club, but when you are onboard you can do so. The CM's will observe him to make sure he can hold his own, and if he does ok , they will register him. He does need to be potty trained. That will be a great incentive for him!

I have an *almost* 3 year old as well. From what I have been told, the cm's can't help them in the bathroom...they have to be able to go potty all on their own. If your ds can, it shouldn't be a problem to put him in the club instead of the nursery. We cruise in a couple of weeks and I am sooooo hoping this info is correct.

The info from the above posters is what I have seen posted multiple times on these and other boards. Unfortunately, even if your child is 3 if they are not completely self sufficient in their bathroom needs they will be unable to use the clubs during secured activities. From what I understand this means that they will not get reminders to go to the bathroom, help with their clothing before or after, nor will they get any assistance in the restroom.

We were just on the magic last week with our four youngest 11, 9, 5 and 3. My daughter turned 3 in August and she is huge for her age with the speech of a 5 yo. That being said she had problems in the club because she was almost always the youngest. It got better at the end of the cruise after many conversations with the CMs and two with the manager of the club. Our other three had a blast in there and we had to drag then out for meals and excursions! . Just keep in mind that your child will probably be the youngest in the club and one of the smallest! FYI the open houses in the club were empty! It would be a great time for your child to play with all the fun stuff in there and you to be there to keep an eye out!

The key here is not the age, it is the potty training. A 3 year old who is not trained goes to the nursery while a 2 1/2 year old who is trained will be welcomed into the Oceaneer's Club.

OK, those are the rules, but set the kid up for success. First, he has to go for you before he can go to the club. Then, don't leave him there long. Come to the Club every 90 minutes or so to check on him and take him to the bathroom while you are there. I'm not saying that you should say he is fully trained when he is not, but kids can get so involved in playing that they "forget." Yes, the CMs do remind the little ones, but a little help from mom goes a long way. And take him to the bathroom in the club the first time you are there so he knows there is one and he can check it out.

Fully trained means able to handle his own clothing--again, make the clothing easy without snaps or buckles.

Also make sure you are comfortable with the ratios. DD has been fully potty trained since before she was 2. She attends preschool full time where she is able to fully use the bathroom by herself (no help from teachers) and hasn't had any accidents. When we cruised in September the CMs told us that she was ready for the club eventhough she had just turned 2. We sail again in three months and we are still not comfortable with leaving her in the club even if(based on availablity of course) they would let her stay. We don't think she would do well with the older kids in the same room. You know your child best and can only make that decision. But so far (a lot can change in three months) the plan is to take full advantage of open house and family activities and use the nursery for one hour during dinner.

If he's not potty trained, he can't go to the club unless it's open house and a parent can go with him. They will allow only fully potty trained children to be left in the club, as club CMs will not assist with toilet issues.

Thank you everyone for your responses! When we went, there were not many 3 year olds in the Nursery... but I can't imagine that every child is perfectly potty trained and clothing independent at 3, or nearly 3. Most 3 year olds are still wearing pull-ups trainers... at least my older son was, in case of an accident. I guess we will see where we are at that particular time. I am hoping he can go... and that he can "pass". (Or pseudo-pass!)

If he's not potty trained, he can't go to the club unless it's open house and a parent can go with him. They will allow only fully potty trained children to be left in the club, as club CMs will not assist with toilet issues.

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This wasn't true for us on the Disney Wonder in July.

Our just-turned 3 YO wasn't fully potty trained but is able to tell "teachers" when she needs to go (she consistently goes to preschool). She was allowed in Oceaneer's club. They told us they'd page if she needed to go. She was in regular diapers (non pull ups, as we were working on "cold turkey" method).

She went once or twice to the club (by herself, while we were at Palo and on 2 evenings) but decided on her own it was "too many big kids" for her.

They ended up never calling us to take her to the bathroom. The nursery would have been too boring for her. We started there, but it was clear she was way too old for it.

***We always made sure to take her to the club only after she'd gone to the potty, so that it wouldn't become a huge issue. It never was.

Our just-turned 3 YO wasn't fully potty trained but is able to tell "teachers" when she needs to go (she consistently goes to preschool). She was allowed in Oceaneer's club. They told us they'd page if she needed to go. She was in regular diapers (non pull ups, as we were working on "cold turkey" method).

She went once or twice to the club (by herself, while we were at Palo and on 2 evenings) but decided on her own it was "too many big kids" for her.

They ended up never calling us to take her to the bathroom. The nursery would have been too boring for her. We started there, but it was clear she was way too old for it.

***We always made sure to take her to the club only after she'd gone to the potty, so that it wouldn't become a huge issue. It never was.

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Thanks for your response! I know that he won't be perfectly potty trained. He can go hours with a dry diaper now, and we are still 6 months out from the cruise. I too am hoping that they would just page me if their was an issue.

I am a bit nervous about this as well. My son will be 2 months shy of 3. He is a pretty tall kid. I am hoping to PT him over Christmas break (teacher here) but we'll see. He is pretty easy going, but very active and I worry a) about him being bored and b) about him running over the toddlers or trying to "play" but being too rough for the little ones. My daughter will be 17 months when we go, so I go back and forth between wanting them together or letting him do the Club. He loved bigger kids, but that many? Not sure... also the ratios make me a bit wary and I am really not overprotective usually. If it was 15:1 and they were all 3-4, I would be totally fine with it! But all this may be a non-issue if he doesn't potty train!

We were just on the magic last week with our four youngest 11, 9, 5 and 3. My daughter turned 3 in August and she is huge for her age with the speech of a 5 yo. That being said she had problems in the club because she was almost always the youngest. It got better at the end of the cruise after many conversations with the CMs and two with the manager of the club. Our other three had a blast in there and we had to drag then out for meals and excursions! . Just keep in mind that your child will probably be the youngest in the club and one of the smallest! FYI the open houses in the club were empty! It would be a great time for your child to play with all the fun stuff in there and you to be there to keep an eye out!

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Just off the Magic last week and we had the same experience with DD. She just turned 3 last month and was fully potty trained. She refused to stay in the Club without me or DH. She wouldn't even stay with her big brother who is 7. We went to almost every Open House we could and she enjoyed it. I really think she was scared with all the older children in there. We ended up having to cancel our Palo reservation. DH and I never got to enjoy any of the adult activities together. So, you never know how a 3 year will react. We were surprised.

I spent this past weekend on a potty training blitz with my 2.5 year in the hopes that she would be ready for the Kids Club in January (2 months away). So far she is doing great, and I hope that she is on target for being fully day-trained. Daycare really pushes self sufficiency in the bathroom, so the only thing I worry about her is her recognizing that she has to go and not being too distracted to get to the bathroom!.

Her Big Sister will be at the Club, which will help with her being the littlest one there, provided that she is allowed in.

I have already reserved all the hours at the nursery that we need, and most of the time is dinner time for 1 1/2 hours while we finish our meals. I will gladly cancel them if she is allowed in the club. That will be easy, since she will be pottied before we drop her off and I also *may* use a pull up as back up just in case. We do have Remy dinner, Remy Brunch and Palo Brunch reserved, so if need be, one of us could go down the nursery half way through our meals to attend to her potty needs.

This is the first time I have seen someone post that the CMs in the club knowingly allowed a child to be checked into it in diapers. The policy has always been no diapers or pull-ups -- and yes, you can tell when a child has one of them on. The only time pull-ups were permitted was at night when kids were dropped off in their PJs because if they fell asleep it was easier to just have the parent be able to carry them back to the room without having to change their clothes and put a pull-up on them.

I agree with the previous poster, diapers were absolutely not allowed in the clubs on any of our three cruises except for parent-supervised open house time. The first criteria was fully independent potty trained, and then the second was observation by the club manager to determine maturity level. Our daughter goes to Montessori school, which meant she was well prepared to hold her own in a mixed age environment despite being the youngest so after only a few minutes they put a Mickey Band on her and we headed for the adult pool.

My ds will just be 3 on our next cruise and definitely worried about the kids club and potty training. I hope he will be potty trained, but I don't know if he will be able to do it completely unsupervised in such an environment as the clubs. His sister and cousins will be there, too, but they are all girls so they won't be able to help him in the bathroom. (Unless there is one that he could go in with his sister?) I know he will be fine with the older kids, it's just the whole potty issue. If they allow pull ups at night, maybe he can just go late at night...

Just off the Magic last week and we had the same experience with DD. She just turned 3 last month and was fully potty trained. She refused to stay in the Club without me or DH. She wouldn't even stay with her big brother who is 7. We went to almost every Open House we could and she enjoyed it. I really think she was scared with all the older children in there. We ended up having to cancel our Palo reservation. DH and I never got to enjoy any of the adult activities together. So, you never know how a 3 year will react. We were surprised.

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On our cruise the kids were REALLY rowdy in the club. Most of the older kids were always in the lab so when the younger kids were in the club, it was apparent that there was a group that was rowdy, especially when Peter Pan led the fly (read: trample) around the room. I was surprised at the amount of running they were allowing up and down the slide area. My 3YO is a shy, timid girl. She liked the computers and dress up, but started refusing to get checked in because it was a little overwhelming for her. I did notice that the CMs liked her though, because when they "played" with her they got to sit down alot hehe. I can't imagine running around like Peter Pan does all day long. Poor guy. He was losing his voice at the end of our cruise.

Regarding the diaper issue for the other posters interested in this---We started at the nursery but the CM at the nursery suggested we go to the Club instead since: (1) there were no other kids in the nursery; and (2) they only had "baby" toys. The CM said that the Club CMs will just call us if she needs to be changed.

Every time we dropped her off at the Club we reminded them at check in that she was in diapers but could voice when she needs to go or to get changed. I made sure to lead her to a CM (any CM) was was "free" and then again explained the diaper thing (ie, please call us if she needs to "go" or needs to get changed). They all seemed fine with it. We actually only got texts/calls on the Wave phone when she wanted to get picked up.

Thank you everyone for your responses! When we went, there were not many 3 year olds in the Nursery... but I can't imagine that every child is perfectly potty trained and clothing independent at 3, or nearly 3. Most 3 year olds are still wearing pull-ups trainers... at least my older son was, in case of an accident. I guess we will see where we are at that particular time. I am hoping he can go... and that he can "pass". (Or pseudo-pass!)

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No, not all 3 year olds are potty trained, and the ones who aren't can go into Flounder's Reef. Cheating the system is just going to create issues for the CM and your child. There are many many other children in the club who need to be supervised and schedules and supervision of those children is based on the idea that no one CM is going to be taken away for an extended period of time to deal with a potty accident.

My sister sailed in early September and her daughter turned 3 late October. She was fully potty trained, goes to daycare daily, etc. She did not enjoy being in there and was very overwhelmed with the big kids. The club/lab are very independent type areas without organized 3-5 year old areas. After one evening in there (while they had Palo reservations), she would not go back. When they arrived to pick her up, she was sitting in the lap of a cast member and burst into tears when they arrived--apparently just holding it together until her parents returned.

I just want to give you a different perspective. I'm sure some very young kids love it, but this almost 3 year old used to daycare, etc still did not have a pleasant time.